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Top Ten Genea-Blogger Group Games That Were Cut by the Committee

If you’re a genea-blogger, by now you’ve probably heard the announcement about the Summer 2008 Genea-Blogger Group Games which are being held August 8 – 25. But you may not know that several competition categories were cut from the event by the official Committee (Thomas, Terry, Miriam, Kathryn, footnoteMaven, and Denise). We’re not sure why these events were cut, but the rumor is that certain participants were sure to win the gold by a mile. So as not to embarrass the other participants, it was decided that these categories would be cut due to the unfair advantage that many genea-bloggers had. But I was able to get my hands on a copy of the original program…here are the events you won’t see, and who was expected to take home the gold (or rather, the diamond, since that is the highest medal given in the Genea-Blogger Group Games).

( 10 ) The 1000 Meter Dash – Using only online sources, quickly connect with as many living cousins as possible. Would have won: Randy Seaver

( 9 ) Long Jump – Trace your maternal line back to the Garden of Eden using mtDNA. Would have won: Blaine Bettinger

( 8 ) Relay Race – Quickly pass on a meme to five other genea-bloggers before they’ve been hit by someone else. Bonus points if you find out that the genea-bloggers are actually your cousins. Would have won: Becky Wiseman

( 7 ) Wrestling – The genea-smackdown event! Wrestle with boxes and boxes of uncategorized and unlabeled documents and photos, organizing and scanning as you go. Would have won: Craig Manson

( 6 ) Parallel Bars – Determine if two families with the same surname are related or not, documenting the search with correct source citations. Would have won: Thomas MacEntee

( 5 ) Synchronized Scanning – Scan the greatest number of documents during Scanfest while, at the same time, chatting online with a dozen genea-friends, checking out the latest info on the Facebook wall, transcribing records for FamilySearch Indexing, submitting to the Carnival of Genealogy, and publishing a post on your blog. Would have won: Miriam Midkiff

( 4 ) 100m Backstroke – Transcribe, photograph, and index all of your local cemeteries. Would have won: Terry Thornton

( 3 ) Hurdles – Track down an elusive female relative’s parents’ names as well as her descendants. You know, the relative who married five times and moved frequently. All sources must be properly documented, and her story should be presented in the creative nonfiction format. Would have won: FootnoteMaven

( 2 ) Balance Beam – Serve as carnival host while writing your family history project and hosting more than one genea-blog. Would have won: 3-way tie between Jasia, Lisa, and fM

( 1 ) Pole Vault – Find your immigrant ancestor’s hometown when the only placename listed on every vital document is either “Poland”, “Russia”, “Austria”, or “Prussia”. Would have won: Steve Danko

You had me laughing out loud, Donna, and it was just what I needed. I’ve been going through some rough times lately and haven’t had much to smile about. You really came through for me when I needed it most. Thank you, friend.

Correction: I’m not on the Olympic Committee so I don’t know who to credit cutting these good events from the competition. Thomas probably — he can get political at times and this had to be a political move. LOL!

Thanks, Donna, I needed a good laugh! Still trying to pick myself up off the floor. Typing while on your knees really doesn’t work very well… especially when you’re shaking with bouts of uncontrollable laughter and tears streaming down your cheeks. Now, where did I put that Kleenex?

Thanks for the inside scoop. Glad to hear that you thought I had a chance at a medal. 🙂

Are you aware that the Triathlon debuted at the Sydney Olympics in 2000?

You were sure to be the winner of the genea-blogger version of that event: SWIMMING in the real world of work, RUNNING a great genealogy blog and CYCLING out on the open road of genealogy magazine article-writing.

Thanks, everyone. I’m really glad you enjoyed it. It brings me great joy to know I made you smile, laugh uncontrollably, and/or have your cat stare at you in a funny way. There is nothing finer in life than making people laugh. 🙂